Sealing strip



April 26, 1960 G. W. CORNELL SEALING STRIP Filed Sept. 27, 1956 INVENTOR @avec )1/ @eA/641.

ATTORNEYS United States SEALING STRIP George W. Cornell, Miami, Fla.,assigner of one-half to W. Elder Cornell, Jr., Miami, Fla.

The present invention relates to sealing constructions and moreparticularly to abutment type door or window sealing means to be appliedalong the edges of door openings for the purpose of sealing the doorwaysof buildings or other structures to prevent the entrance of rain, water,dust, dirt and insects and the pasage of cold or warm currents of aireither into or out of the inclosure with which the door is associated.

Many forms of sealing means have been devised in the past in attempts toprovide a thoroughly satisfactory door sealing means. Some of these havecome into use, but in general, most of them are subject to certainobjections and none of the abutment type previously offered on themarket provide full sealing. Other objections to many of the devicesoffered heretofore are inability to effectively seal the whole perimeterof the door opening, lack of good wearing qualities, diiculty ofobtaining proper installation, diticulty of replacement. Further in manyinstances the apparatus which has been devisedfor this purpose hasproved unsightly particularly after use for even a short while.

Examples of some of the seals heretofore proposed and some of which arein use are disclosed by United States Letters Patents to E. S. Torreynumbered 81,228 dated August 18, 1868, to F. l. Plym numbered 1,936,641dated November 28, 1933 and to G. W. Cornell 2,718,677 dated September27,1955. Except for the Cornell patent structure, which is now in widesatisfactory use and not capable of employment as an abutment type sealfor outswinging doors or windows hung to dispose the door in overhangingrelation to the doorsteps these prior art arent O structures fail toseal satisfactorily. They have proved particularly unsuited for use inmodern door structuresuch as glass doors or metallic doors used,forexample,

in enclosed porches, patios, store constructionsor oiiice buildings.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention toprovide an abutment type door sealing unit which will overcome theobjections noticed in the heretofore known sealing means, which isattractive, which will not deteriorate, and which embodies structurethat is easily placed in position and adjusted to the door frame.

Another object of the invention is to provide an abutment type doorsealing structural unit embodying a support strip, and a resilientgenerally flexible deformable sealing member, adapted to sealingly abutthe face of a door to seal the latter and through a thin Walledchamber-like portion formed in part by a bowed portion of the sealingmember which is readily deformable and which due to the chamber-likestructure also cushions the closing of a door.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a door sealing unit ofthe abutment type, which abuts against the face of the door and embodiesa threshold forming seal support strip attachable adjacent to a door anda resilient readily deformable abutment type sealeI ICC ing memberpositioned vertically along one edge of the seal strip supportingstructure.

It is also an object of the invention to provide an abutment typesealing member comprising a strip embodying a chamber-like constructionformed in part by an outwardly bowed portion adapted to engage the dooras it is closed and to partially collapse thereby cushioning the closingthereof and yet provide a strong and satisfactory sealing means which isoperative in a vertical position with the bowed portion projectingoutwardly to one side of the strip.

A further object of the invention is to provide a door sealing unitincluding a support strip and a removable reslient deformable sealingstrip adapted to be placed, through positioning of the support strip, soas to abut the face of a door and in which said support strip includes ahorizontally extending outwardly opening undercut groove in a verticalface and a vertical groove positioned in an angularly related horizontalface and a strip sealing means having mating configurations forreception into the grooves to lockingly yet removably engage the sealingstrip and maintain it in an operative position.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a sealing stripsupporting means embodying an outwardly opening undercut groove along avertical edge thereof extending inwardly of the face of said verticaledge and a second groove positioned in a face angularly related to therst mentioned vertical edge face and a sealing strip having angularlyrelated formations thereon for cooperating with said grooves toremovably fix said sealing strip with respect to said supporting means.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sealing stripsupporting means having a vertical face, an undercut groove extendinginwardly from said vertical face, a second groove formed adjacent saidface and extending at an angle to said first groove and a horizontalflange extending outwardly with respect to said vertical face, and asealing strip having a mating projecting portion adapted to be receivedin the first mentioned groove and a second projecting portion adapted tobe received in said second groove, and a channel like formation adaptedto receive the horizontal flange to matingly cooperate with saidsupporting means.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a door seal of theabutment type embodying a resilient chamber-like format-ion formed inpart by a bowed def ormable wall and having, spaced vertically withrespect thereto, a relatively rigid abutment offset inwardly of theouter extremity of the bowed member when the bowed member is in itsnormal position.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a door sealconstruction embodying a resilient sealing means provided with an upperoutwardly bowed resilient deformable Wall, and vertically spaced withrespect thereto, a relatively rigid offset stop portion adapted to limitthe movement of a door in compressing and deformingthe resilient bowedmeans.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a door sealingconstruction of the vertical abutment type including a resilient hollowbumper seal mounted in a.

structure and provide a seal between the supporting structure and thesurface upon which it is mounted:

It is also an object of the invention to provide a sealing meansembodying a deformable door sealing portion having positioning meansextending laterally therefrom and adapted to securingly cooperate with amating formation provided by a seal support structureand a dependingportion formed to extend down and around a portionof the supportstructure and terminatingin an` upwardly extending ilange forinterfitting engagement in a securing groove in the support structure toform a combined sup'- port structure seal and an additional securingmeans.

These and' other objects of the invention will become apparent from thefollowing description when read in conjunction with the appended claimsand, accompanying drawings wherein;

Figure l is a. sectional elevational view illustrating a sealingstructure made in accordance with this invention applied as a thresholdseal for a door;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the seal supporting stripillustrated in Figure l and, forming a partof the door sealing structureof the present invention.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a preferred form of anovel resilient sealing strip provided by this invention and adapted forpositively sealing the space between the door and door frame asillustrated in Figure l.

With continued reference to the drawing wherein like parts throughoutthe several figures of the drawing are identified by the same referencenumeral a preferred sealing unit 16 of the present invention in theform'of unitary threshold assembly is illustrated. This unit comprises aseal strip support or saddle 11- and a seal strip 12 formed of aresilient deformable material such as a vinyl plastic. Both strips arecontinuous extrusions so that: they may be readily cross cut at desiredlongitudinal intervals to provide sealing units of predetermined andvarying lengths. Thus the need of forming strips-of desired short'.v andvarying lengths is obviated.

The seal support 11 has an arched body terminating along one edge in avertical face. The seal strip is mounted on this vertical face toprovide a vertically disposed abutment type seal means for engaging aface of a door 13 adjacent its lower edge.

The seal strip support 11 is preferably formed asa continuous extrusionof a relatively rigid material, such as aluminum or other rigid orsemi-rigid material. It is provided with a longitudinally extendingsupport'face 14A at the: edge remote from the edge 15 upon whichseals-trip 12 is mounted. The twoedges are connected by a longitudinallyextending arched central portion or body 16. Thus the seal strip supportmeansis arch shaped. Approximately midway ofthe body 16 there isprovided a depending reinforcing rib 17. Face 14 is preferably longi-vtudinally serrated or scored as indicated at 18 to facilitate grippingcooperation with the flooring such as 19. The scores increase the biteor friction between the face 14 and the floor surface and help tosecurely position the seal unit 10 in place. Body 16 is scoredlongitudinally as indicated at 2t) to assure a non-skid footing on theexposed face of the body sov that accidents due to slipping areeliminated.

A series of longitudinallyspaced screw'- holes 21 are provided in body16 for receiving screws 22 for'securing the sealing unit 10 in a fixedrelationship with respect to the door opening. Bolts or other fasteningmeans may be used in place of screws 22- if the floor is a terrazororconcrete floor intowhich screws cannotA be threaded.

The edge 15 of support strip 11 is formed as shown in Figure 2 `by alaterally facing wall 23 andan intersecting, right angularlyrelated,undersurface wall 26. As there shown wall 23 extends downwardly -to aright' angular, laterally outwardly extending flange; 24. The flange 24forms wall 26 and is preferablyy formed as a plain flatflange having anouter edge ZSaud.antupper1surface27;

Lower surface 26 extends laterally beneath the wall 23 and' terminatesinwardly of the plane of the outer face of wall 23 in a downwardlyopening longitudinally extending groove 28 formed by a downwardlyextending laterally inwardly spaced rib 29 supported from the back ofthe wall 23 by a longitudinally continuous, horizontally disposed flange29'.

Wall 23 of seal support strip 11 adjacent its upper end is intersectedby the longitudinally continuous narrowed mouth of an, undercut sealstrip securing groove 30 the axis oi" which inclines upwardly andinwardly from its intersection with the plane of the outer face of wall23. The enlarged; portion of groove 30 is delinfied alongl one side bythe arched body ofA strip 11 and along its othcr side by an integraldownwardly-'and outwardly inclined wall section 31. The groove 3f? opensoutwardly through wall 23 at a point slightly above the verticalcenterline of wall 23.

The sealing member or strip- 12 is a longitudinally continuous extrusionhaving a main bodyv portion made upof vertical body web section 32integrally joined at one end to a horizontally extending leg whichprojects outwardly from one side of web 32 integrally joined toaverticallyV extending body web sectionV 33 substantially parallelingweb 32; Section 33connects to a right angularly relatedA lowerhorizontal underr saddle sealing web 34- which extends beneath thehorizontal leg and terminates at its free end in an upstanding lip orflange 35 projectingaway from the inner face of web 34. Flange 3Sextends' parallel to vertical section 33 and web 32 and lies in a.'lplane offset from the side of web 32` opposite that from which thehorizontal leg extends. Section 33, webs 32y and 34 and flange 35 dene ahorizontal, longitudinallyI extending channel 36 complementary to thatportion of the supporting strip 11 formed by flange 24 and groove 28 andis adapted to snugly receive this portion of the supporting stripincluding flange 24. As a result it is seen that when the elements arepositioned as illustrated in Figure l the seal strip webs forming thechannel 36 will interlockingly encompass the lower support strip cornerat the outer end of surface 26' thereby firmly securing the lowerportion of the seal strip 12 to support strip 11 with seal strip web 34in position to form anunder saddle seal along the outer weather exposededge of the seal unit 10.

Web 32 isprovided on its inner face 37 with a longitudinally extendingflange 38 whichl projects away from said innerv face 37 atan inclinationcomplementary to that of groove 30 and terminates at its free. end in.-an integrally formed arrow headed portion 40 the' transversely enlargedportion 41 of which lies immediately" adjacent the free end of' flangeY38. The flange 38,up to the point ofv juncture-with the enlarged portion41 of: arrow headed portion 40 is dimensioned to have a complementaryfit in the narrowed mouth of securing groove 30 defined by lateralshoulders 44 and 45 formed outwardly of the juncture ofv the narrowedmouth of groove 30'and the enlarged portion of groove 30. Preferably, asshown in the drawing, the arrow headedv portion 4()y of flanges 38 isformed to provide mating shoulders 42 and 43 interlockingly engagedbehind shoulders 44 and 4S of groove 30.

Seal' strip 12 isfurther provided with a deformable, resilient,bumper-like, bulbous sealing formation 46 formed byy a bowed resilientVand deformable wall 4.7 archingoutwardly from face 50 of web 32 in thedirection in which the horizontal leg extends and" forms with web, 32 alongitudinally extending opening 43 continuous from end to end of theextruded strip. In its free uncompressed state thev bowed wall 47projects outwardly of face 50 a greater distancethan does the dependingyweb 33. Theseal vstripl securing grooves of, strip 11 are de,- signed tomaintain thisrelationship when theV seal strip is supportingly engagedtherewith. Therefore, when the elementsv are assembled, wall 47 (theupper-bumper seal), projects outwardlyoff the outer face 23 a greaterdisdoor.

tance than the distance between the outer web 33 and face 23.

With the elements positioned as in Figure 1 on the iioor 19 and theupper end of the vertical riser 52 normally provided' for outswingingporch and patio door- Ways, this construction seals and cushions theclosing of the door 13 in the following manner:

As the door 13 is closed wall 47 is first contacted and then depressedand deformed to flatten out along the inner door face. The bulbousshape, due to the opening 48, together with the resilient deformablenature of bowed wall 47 cushions as well as seals the closing of thedoor. Since vertical section 33 of strip 12 is substantiallycomplementary to the vertical face 25 of flange 24 and abuts against theface 25, section 33 acts as a resilient stop and limits the closingmovement of the Section 33 also forms an auxiliary bumper seal, which,so long as thepdoor does not warp and if the seal unit 16 is secured inexact parallelism to the inner door face, will provide an effectiveseal. The primary sealing wall 47, however, remains in sealing contactwith the door and effectively seals the door against dirt, drafts, etc.while the door is closed irrespective of reasonable warpage ormisalignment between the door and sealing unit 1t) due to its resiliencyand the bulbous nature of the primary seal. Furthermore, due to thecharacteristic slow recovery rate of properly formulated vinyl sealstrips the seal of this invention will assume the shape of the portionof the inner door face with which it engages and in normal opening andclosing ofthe door will not olfer any appreciable'resistance to fullclosing of the'door. In other words, it will remain in the shape itassumes for proper sealing during normal opening and closing movementsof the door ready to resume a proper sealing contact upon closing of thedoor without expanding to its original bowed shaped to possiblyinterfere with full closing of the door.

Further since the material is all formed of a resilient deformablematerial, the longitudinally extending iiange 38 can be pushed inwardlythrough mouth 29 into groove 30, and the channel 36 can be matinglyengaged with horizontally extending flange 24 through manual maniulation and deformation of the lower webs 32 to 34 of the sealing stripor, if preferred, the seal strip may be drawn lengthwise into assembledrelation with saddle strip 11 by touching one end in a lubricating bathof light oil and entering the lubricated end in the saddle grooves andgrasping the lubricated seal strip end to slide it lengthwise intoassembled relation. Assembly of thc two is thus achieved in an easy andelfective manner.

A noticeable added advantage of the threshold sealing means described isits dampening or cushioning action. This results in the elimination ofthe usual slamming noise to which we are all accustomed. Further, itshould be noticed that the edge 14 of the sealing sup'- port strip andthe lower web 34 of the seal strip firmly abut the iioor surface. As aresult, there are no crevices where dirt will or can accumulate andcleanliness is more easily achieved than with the conventional weatherseal means such as shown in Plym Patent 1,936,641 to which we are allpresently accustomed. The threshold of this invention thus provides amore sanitary installation and also eliminates pockets for housing antsor other insects as Well as preventing their entry when the door isclosed.

It will be appreciated that an abutment seal strip of this type can bereadily provided for the vertical edges and top edge of the door merelyby cutting down the width of the saddle body and moving face 1d closerto edge 15. For example, face 14 could be formed on the end ofreinforcing rib 17 which would then become the inside edge of the seal.Substitution of such a modified seal for the usual door stops would inno way mar the appearance or alter the customary use of the doorway.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit or essential character- Y 6 istics thereof. The presentembodiment is therefore considered in all respects as illustrative andnot restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by theappended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are, therefore, intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States LettersPatent is:

1. A seal strip for use in a door, window, or like seal assemblycomprising a body web, an outwardly bowed resilient and deformable wallmember connected at its ends to said web and extending longitudinallytherealong, said wall member forming a door, window, or like seal`element and cooperating with said web to deine a longitudinallycontinuous opening, a right angularly relatedA web connected to saidbody web and extending outwardly therefrom on the same side of said bodyweb as said bowed wall member and terminating inwardly of the outerextremity of said bowed wall member in a depend` ing resilient abutment'web forming a door, window, or like closure member stop spaced belowsaid bowed wall member, a web extending inwardly from said abutment webto a point beyond the other side of said body web forming a resilientsealing member engageable with the door, window or like opening definingframing and a longitudinally extending ange projecting outwardly fromsaid body web on the side opposite that containing said bowed wallmember, said ange having an enlarged eX- tremity adapted to be receivedin a mounting groove for supporting said seal strip body web on an edgewall of a mounting member with said resilient sealing member webextending under the mounting member.

2. The seal strip of claim l wherein said resilient sealing member webat its free edges has a longitudinally eX- tending upwardly directed lipcooperating therewith to form an upwardly opening channel spaced belowsaid body wall and adapted to matingly encompass a portion of the sealstrip mounting member to assist in supporting said seal strip on saidmounting member.

3. As an article of manufacture, a sealing assembly for attachment toone or more of the four opening defining faces of a conventional door,window or like opening defining framing to sealingly cooperate therewithand with the adjacent inner opposed face margins of the closure memberprovided to close such a frame opening comprising an elongated supportstrip having first and second laterally spaced, longitudinally extendingedges, an elongated seal strip of resilient and deformable seal ma.-terial and longitudinally continuous securing means for securing saidseal strip along one of said longitudinal edges of said support strip toform a unitary assembly for marketing and installation wherein said oneof said longitudinal edges of said support strip compriseslongitudinally continuous, right angularly intersectingly related,laterally outwardly and downwardly facing grooved planar surfaces;wherein said seal strip comprises longitudinally continuous, rightangularly related, generally planar body and sealing webs the innerfaces of which lie respectively in surface engagement with the planarareas of said grooved support strip surfaces and a longitudinallycontinuous resilient bumper sealing and cushioning formation in the formof an integrally formed, transversely arched, resilient and deformablewall element longitudinally continuously extending along the outer faceof said seal strip body web for cushioning cooperation with and inwarddeformation and displacement toward said seal strip body web upon beingcontacted by the opposing face margin of said closure member duringclosing movement of said closure member to effect and resilientlymaintain a positive sealing engagement with the full contacting area ofsaid opposing face margin of said support strip, and wherein saidsecuring means comprises the grooves of said support strip rightangularly related planar surfaces and respective integral,longitudinally continuous,l ange-like means formed on. and projecting.

away from said inner seal strip web faces into said respectivek supportstrip grooves to interlockingly secure said seal strip in encompassingrelation to said support strip corner formed by said support stripplanar surfaces with said seal strip sealing web disposed along saiddownwardly facing planar surface in position to be clampingly sealinglysecured between said last mentioned planar surface and said opposed faceof Said opening deiining framing when said unitary assembly is securedto said framing face.

4. The article of claim 3 wherein said support strip comprises anextruded shape of arched shaped configuration in cross-section having agenerally laterally centered, longitudinally continuous, depending ribadapted to reinforce said support strip against end-to-end downwardbowing and dimensioned to provide a longitudinal door engaging supportwall eective to resist permanent deformation of said support strip underextreme loads suicient ton stress thev cross-sectional arch of saidsupport strip beyond the elastic limit of the materialk used in-itsformation.

5. The article of manufacture set forth in claim 3 wherein said groovein said laterally outwardly facing planar surface of said support stripcomprises an upwardly inclined undercut groove and4 said flange-likemeans on said seal strip body web comprises a rearwardly and upwardlyextending securing formation terminating at its free end in atransversely enlarged head portion matingly interlockingly cooperatingwith said undercut groove to interlockingly secure said strips togetheralong the face of said laterally outwardly facing support strip surfaceVto prevent disassociation of said seal strip body web from said engagedsupport strip surface by downwardlydirected force components due toshear forces applied to said arched wall.

6. The article of claim 5 wherein said downwardly facing'support stripsurface groove comprises a longitudinally extending plain groovepositioned in vertically downwardly spaced relation with respect to saidundercut groove and opening through said downwardly facing surface yandsaid seal webs and said projecting flange-like means on said seal stripsealing web defines an upwardly facing channel and said seal strip bodyweb at its lowermost edge intersects an abutment wall section thelaterally facing surface of which lies in a plane paralleling said sealstrip body web and located to provide a limiting stop to determine thefully closed position of said closure member and the inward displacementof said arched bumper sealing and cushioning wall.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 88,572Johnston Apr. 6, 1869 1,936,641 Plym Nov. 28, 1933 1,966,402 BarringerJuly 10, 1934 2,051,757 Travis Aug. 18, 1936 2,263,806 Hammerl Nov. 25,1941 2,379,193 Shields June 26, 1945 2,718,677 Cornell Sept. 27, 19552,779,090 Keller Jan. 29, 1957 2,801,450 Funke Aug. 6, 1957

